I fought the cold with my evolved powers of shivering. As I got closer, every twig that snapped under my feet, every branch that broke as I picked my way through the brush, seemed to echo across the land to announce my arrival. I was scratching the heck out of Reyes’s jacket. Maybe he’d like it even better. It now had a cool “worn” look. People paid out the ass for that crap.
Hidden by a hill behind the cabin sat two vehicles. The pickup they’d used the other day to bring in the equipment and an older-model PT Cruiser. That had to be Mr. V’s. It just looked like him.
Without having thought to hunt down a pair of binoculars, I had no way of getting a closer look. So I squinted really hard and saw no movement. Their vehicles were not proof that the Vandenbergs were out here. I needed something good to give Agent Carson. I took a couple of pictures on the phone, then used the camera to zoom in. The picture was so blurry, I still couldn’t make out anything.
I did, however, notice a man sitting in the brush south of the house. He looked like a hunter. Great. Now I had to worry about being mistaken for a deer. If only Angel were here.
“What are we looking at?”
I squeaked and jumped thirty-seven feet in the air. Angel had appeared beside me and was now laughing at my reaction. I held one hand on my chest, the other over my mouth so as not to squeak again.
“You are so jumpy, chica. People like you make life worth living.”
“This coming from a dead kid,” I said in a loud whisper.
“True. We looking for dead people again?”
“I’m hoping, if the Vandenbergs are in there, they are very much alive. Can you check?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“Your ability to talk in a normal voice.”
“I don’t get it.”
I grabbed his arm, clawing at it, digging my nails into his skin as hard as I could.
“I get it. I get it,” he said, falling to his knees.
I let go, and he cradled his injured arm, blowing on the marks I’d left.
I glanced at him. “People’s lives are at stake, Angel. And all you can worry about is your angle. Your cut.”
“I’m thirteen.”
He had a point. “Look, I’m sorry, just go see if the Vandenbergs are there.” When he glared back at me, I added, “Please.”
He disappeared. I tried to calm down, but I was cold and tired and hungry. And more than a little worried about Mr. V, Natalie, Joseph, and Jasmine.
Just then I heard a low thud. Nothing too spectacular, but the energy that hit me almost bowled me over. A wall of fear hit me head-on, and I knew before Angel got back that Mr. V and his family were in there. Was the sound a gunshot?
I stood and started for the cabin. Soon I was sprinting. I would have run right up to the door and burst through it if Angel hadn’t tackled me to the ground.
We rolled in the brush, and I fought him, trying to get to that family. To those kids.
“Stop it, damn it,” Angel said, pinning me down.
I kicked out and tried to claw at him again.
“They’re okay, Janey. They’re alive.”
“What was that sound?” I asked, frantic.
“Mrs. V dropped a pan. The bad guys got mad. They’re okay.”
I stopped struggling and lay in his arms, trying to calm my breathing. Then I realized how stupid what I’d just done really was. I could’ve gotten them all killed. I put a hand over my eyes as they stung with emotion.
Angel pulled me tighter. I let him.
Now I had another big fat dilemma. I’d gotten too close to the house. If they hadn’t seen me already, they very well could when I got up. At the moment, I was hidden by the tall vegetation, but I couldn’t stay there until nightfall. I needed to get them help.
“Are they okay?” I asked Angel. “Even the kids?”
“They’re alive.”
“If only I had a way to —” My eyes flew open. I had a phone. I could call… who? I didn’t have anyone’s number, and it wasn’t like there was a directory for cell numbers. Not that I knew of.
We were close enough to the house to hear yelling. I cringed when a man’s voice speaking Farsi wafted toward me.
“I don’t know what to do, Angel.”
“Me neither.”
Just when the voices in the house quieted down, my phone rang. At first, I didn’t recognize the sound. Then I realized my pocket was ringing. I scrambled to answer it, hoping the captors hadn’t heard. Who would be calling? No one had this number.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke into the phone, her voice calm, soothing. “Janey? What are you doing?”
I blinked in thought. “Um, nothing.”
“You’re not lying by a cabin that may or may not have the Vandenbergs held hostage inside?”
I bolted upright, but Angel tackled me to the ground again. He was right. That was a bad move. Damned reflexes.
“Agent Carson?”
“The one and only. And where are you supposed to be?”
It took me a moment, but I answered, “Anywhere but here?”
“Brava. You get to move on to the bonus round.”
“Where are you?”
“In a very well-thought-out covert position. Unlike, say, you. I had two units that were ready to move until you showed up. I can guarantee, you will also be arrested the minute I can get my hands on you.” She was so testy.
“What do you mean, ready to move?”
“They were getting ready to do covert surveillance so we could get eyes in there.”
“In broad cloudy-with-a-chance-of-rain daylight?”
“They’re very good. It’s what they do.”
“Just hold on. Angel, where exactly are the Vandenbergs being held?”
“They’re all in that corner bedroom,” he said, “except for Mrs. Vandenberg. She’s cooking for them.”
“Is there a guard with the family?”
“No. There are three men. Two in the living room and one in the kitchen. The family is tied up, so they aren’t going anywhere.”
I nodded. “Look, I have inside information.” I told her what Angel said. “If we can distract them somehow once Mrs. Vandenberg is finished cooking, we can get them out. They aren’t guarding them.”
“How do you know that?”
“I saw it. Through my binoculars.”
“What binoculars?”
“The ones I dropped. And no longer have.”
“Well, thanks to you, the first thing we have to do is try to get you out of there so you don’t get everyone killed.”
Guilt ate through the lining of my stomach. “I know. I’m so sorry.”
“Can you see them now?”
I was just about to say no when Angel nodded. Of course, he could be my eyes.
“Yes. Yes, I can.”
“Do you think you can get out of there if we provide some kind of distraction?”
“No!” I whisper-yelled at her. “No, two distractions in one day? It isn’t like they’re not a tad suspicious already. They’re bad guys. They were born suspicious. I can see them.”
Angel gave me a thumbs-up, then disappeared.
“I’ll know when to run.”
“Janey, if you are wrong and they spot you —”